Lazy Sunday Afternoons
by Is Sales
Summary: All the lazy Sunday afternoons that Katniss and Gale spend together. Pre-Hunger Games, thinking about doing until Mockingjay.
1. The first lazy Sunday afternoon ever

We stare at each other.

"Did you know that stealing is illegal?" I say. She throws the dead rabbit at me, looking angry.

"I didn't know it was yours." She says, quietly.

"It's _my _snare." I say, rudely. I can see that she's angry too.

"I didn't know I wasn't the only one who hunts here." She says. "It's kinda sad, you know."

"What?"

"That the woods are so poorly populated. I would think that the people who I would find here would be more… well… Decent. " She gave a smirk.

"What's your name anyways?" I say, looking at her better this time. She was tiny. Maybe nine, or ten years old. She had long brown hair, and she was wearing a braid, and she also had grey eyes. Perfect girl from the Seam.

"Katniss." She whispers.

"Catnip?" I ask. What a strange name. I thought Catnip was a flower that cat liked.

"Katniss, you moron."

"Such a nice temper." I say, grinning. "I'm Gale. Gale Hawthorne." She nods. "What are you doing in the woods? You're too young. This place is dangerous."

"I'm eleven." She says, rudely. "And how about you? You do seem very young too."

"I'm thirteen, sweetheart. And you didn't answer my question."

"I'm the woods because I have to feed my family." My grin faded. Now I see.

"Oh. Sorry. I just… I didn't think."

"Well, you do seem used to it."

"My father died in the explosion too." I say. Now it's time for her face to soft a little.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. It's just… hard." I nod. I can feel she wants to say something more, but it's afraid.

"Look, let's make a deal." I say, sitting in a rock and patting the one besides me, asking her to seat. She sits beside me, looking a little concerned. "Whatever I say here, you won't tell anybody. Whatever you say here, I won't tell anybody."

"It's like our secret place." She whispers. I nod, smiling slightly.

"Yes." I agree. "The woods are our place. Just ours."

We stay quiet for a bit.

"My mom has shut down." She says, quietly. "She doesn't speak, she doesn't cook, she doesn't anything. It's scary."

"It's a big shock to her."

"It's a big shock for me! My father died! My mom doesn't speak anymore! My sister just cries all the time. We have no food, we have no money. I don't know what else I can do."

"Things will get better. You can hunt, don't you? We can help each other. Bring your sister someday, we'll can make her feel better. I bet she loves animals."

She nods, quietly, looking ashamed of her explosion.

"You don't have to be ashamed of your feelings, Catnip."

"It's Katniss." She whispers.

"Ok. So Catnip, you can have this." I say handing her the rabbit.

"Such a nice present." She says, but it's smiling lightly. "We could hunt together you know. I can use the bow and the arrow, you can do the snares."

"That would be easy. But we have school. And we also need money."

"We… we could go to the Hob."

"The dark market? They'll crush us!"

"No, they won't. They all liked my father; I used to go there with him. They know me."

"Right." I say. "So… I see you tomorrow? Right here, after school."

"Ok. Bye, Gale." She says.

"Bye, Catnip."


	2. We understand each other

Thank you so much for the reviews! I really love them, and it makes me wanna write more. I'm sorry I took so long to uptade. So, I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes. I don't have someone to correct the story for me, and english is not my first language, but I do the best that I can (: please r&r

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I'm sitting on the top of the hill, alone. It's early in the morning and I know Catnip is not going to see me before the reaping. She's not afraid today, because she's not 12 yet. She's safe. I'm happy for it. I look at the sky. I'm afraid. I don't wanna get reaped, but they're already 10 tiny papers with my name in the big ball in the center of the city. I hear some steps and I sit straight, looking for the person who made the sound.

"Hi, Gale." She whispers. She looks beautiful, she's wearing her father's hunting jacket, that is too big to her, but she looks lovely on it. Her hair is on a braid, and her eyes shows that she's scared.

"Hi, Catnip." I say. She sits beside me, and looks deep into my eyes.

"You're afraid?" She asks.

"Nah, I'm fine." I lie, and I can say that she doesn't believe. I've grown moody. It's been two weeks since we've meet. We met every day after school, and we only leave the woods when it's almost dinner time. Then we go to the Hob, and after that, we go home. It's nice spending time with her. She gets me. She understands me, more than anyone ever understood. And I get her. Sometimes she's upset and she needs to talk. So I listen. Sometimes she's _really _upset and she doesn't wanna talk. So we stay quiet. But this is one of these days when I need her support.

"I know you're lying." She mumbles. "How many times is your name there?"

"Ten." I answer. Ten tiny little papers written "Gale Hawthorne". If one of them is picked, my life is over. "Are you… Are you going to…" I start saying.

"You don't even have to ask." She cuts me off "If… if you go to the arena, I'll take care of them until you get back."

"If I get back." I mumble darkly.

"It's not a matter of if. It's _when_. And we don't even know you're going to be reaped."

I nod quietly.

"Next year will be worst." I say to myself.

"Why?"

"Because if you get reaped, I won't be able to volunteer to save you." She looks at me, with her deep grey eyes. She's still afraid that I may go away.

"So know you get how I feel right now." She says quiet for a little bit. "C'mon, Gale, let's hunt something so you can eat for dinner with your family."

She's denying that there's a chance that I go to the arena. And of course, I'm going to play her game.

"Sure Catnip, but only if you get some squirrels for me."

I can feel that I she smiled the "what an idiot" smile. She always gives me this smile, but only in the woods. It's our secret world. Nothing can hurt us here, and we can be whoever we want and do whatever we want. It's nothing like the world inside the fence. But unfortunately, we live inside the fence. All we'll always live inside the fence. But at least, we can have a few hours of freedom every day. And it feels great. Greater than it was before, when I was alone. But everything seems better when I'm with her.


End file.
